School, Sex and Secrets (School, Sex and Secrets #1)

by Sheila Michelle

  “I hope so!” Ava said.

  “So do I,” I said, and then let out a sigh.

  Brad nodded as he had his arm around me. Suddenly, his smartphone rang; he looked at it to see who it was. “Hey, Zac. What’s up, man?”

  Ava and I looked at each other, and then we looked at Brad. Since Zac’s uncle was a sheriff at the county jail, I knew he was calling Brad about Natalie’s case.

  “For real, man? Okay, thanks for letting me know. Bye, man,” Brad said, and hung up.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Well, that was Zac, as you both heard. He told me that the DNA results at the crime scene and on Natalie’s body is male, so that obviously eliminates Lisa and all the other girls. We don’t know whose it is yet since that was all that he could find out for now. He said his uncle said that it’s gonna take some time to go through the DNA of all the males at school, but he should know something in the days and weeks ahead since Natalie’s case has been put as a priority.”

  “Well, that’s good,” I said.

  “But since it’s a male’s DNA, it only narrows it down slightly to about several hundred to probably thousands!” Ava said.

  Brad and I nodded in agreement.

  Ava sighed as she shook her head. “Why do bad things have to happen?”

  “Because this world is just a bad fuckin’ place. This shows you that anything can happen to any one of us at any time — no one is safe anywhere — I found that out that night in the mall parking lot when Lisa tried to run me down, and Natalie found that out at school . . . but she was killed by the person who targeted her,” I said.

  “Exactly,” Brad and Ava said.

  “We need to find out who Natalie was involved with and if she was involved with more than one person. There are obviously some secrets that she had that no one probably knew about, not even Marie. I don’t know why, but I believe that she was involved with some guy that goes to our school, not just that dude that goes to Westmore,” I said.

  “That’s what I’m now thinking, too,” Ava said.

  Brad nodded. “It’s possible.”

  “Brad, has Marc ever talked to you about wanting Natalie back? Has he ever made threats to her or anything?” I asked.

  “Never. Their relationship may have not been the best one, but he never abused her or even called her out of her name. It was just a classic relationship that just didn’t work out. He never talked to me about wanting to get back with her since he tells me everything.”

  Ava and I nodded in response.

  “Well, she must’ve been involved with someone at our school that she didn’t want anyone to know about because it’s obvious that a male did this to her — but who?” I said.

  “We’ll find that out eventually,” Ava said.

  “And I think we shouldn’t have that long of a wait to find out who killed her. All the males at school gave their DNA samples, so we should know who did this to her in no time,” Brad said.

  “I hope you’re right, honey. Thank goodness you had a day like that,” I said.

  “I knew it would come in handy, even though I never predicted that something like this would happen and at school on top of it,” Brad said.

  “None of us did,” Ava said.

  We all sighed as we shook our heads.

  CHAPTER 28

  “I am so nervous, Vanessa!” Ava said, as we sat on a bench next to each other in the homicide department at the police station as we waited to be questioned.

  “I know, so am I. But we had nothing to do with Natalie’s murder so we have nothing to hide,” I said. But I was still hiding the fact that I heard those horrific sounds in that room the day of Natalie’s murder, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell the cops about it.

  “Yeah, we don’t. And if need be, I’ll take a polygraph test to prove it if they want me to.”

  I smiled. “And so will I,” I said, even though I wasn’t so sure because of what I’d heard that day.

  A door opened a few doors down from us, and Lisa walked out of it as she wiped tears from her eyes. She walked right past us without saying a word and sat on another bench several feet down from us.

  “She’s still taking it hard, as she should be,” Ava said.

  “I agree. And I know that it’s still getting to her about cussing Natalie out for telling me about what she did and said, and it should because after that, I really hadn’t seen the two of them talking. Like I didn’t have the right to know that it was her who tried to run me down and said those things? Please!” I said in practically a whisper. “I should drag her ass down to the department where she should be for what she tried to do to me that night, but it’s too bad that I just don’t have any proof that it was her.”

  “Exactly, Vanessa.”

  I looked to my right and saw Brad walk in with his parents and a man who was dressed in a dark professional suit — I wondered who this man was.

  Brad walked past Lisa as he said hi to her; his dad smiled at her, but his mom pretended as if she didn’t see her. Lisa said nothing in return.

  “Vanessa, who’s that man with Brad and his parents?” Ava asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m gonna find out,” I said, and then got up and walked towards Brad.

  Brad smiled when he saw me. “Hey, baby. How are you?” he said as he hugged me.

  His parents and the man with them acknowledged me as well.

  After I acknowledged them in return, I led Brad away from them all. “Brad, who’s that man with you?”

  “My lawyer,” he replied.

  I looked shocked! “Brad, what the fuck, honey? Why do you have your lawyer with you? Is there something that you’re not telling me?”

  He looked at me. “No, baby, nothing like that. It’s just that I saw Natalie’s body, and I know that there are questions that they’re gonna ask me that they’re not gonna ask the rest of you because of it — I just don’t know what they’ll be so that’s why my parents wanted him to come here with me. Baby, I had nothing to do with Natalie’s murder, okay? So please don’t let my lawyer’s presence make you think those thoughts.”

  “I know you didn’t,” I said. Now I wonder if I’m gonna need a lawyer because of what I heard in that room that day she was murdered, I thought. I still tried to believe that she was in another room on that floor at another time of the day — but my mind wouldn’t let me believe that.

  We smiled at each other, and then held hands.

  Marc, John, Ken, and Zac came walking in. They all greeted us.

  “So what’s up with your lawyer being here, man?” Marc asked Brad.

  “That’s what Vanessa asked me. I know what y’all are probably thinking, but he’s here because when I told my parents that I saw Natalie’s body, they suggested that he come along with me just in case the questioning gets out of control,” Brad replied.

  “Makes sense,” Ken said.

  Marc, John, and Zac nodded in agreement.

  “Any word about the DNA results?” Brad asked Zac.

  “Not anything yet,” Zac replied.

  “I just wanna get this questioning over with,” Ava said as she stood with her arms crossed.

  “We all want this over with fast,” I said.

  A female homicide detective came out of a room as she had her arm around Marie as she continued to cry. She was crying so hard that she didn’t see any of us as she had her face buried in about five tissues. We watched as Lisa got up when she saw her, and they turned to leave since they were done with their questioning.

  Minutes later, the female homicide detective came back down the hall. “So, who’s next?”

  “I’ll go,” I said, because I just wanted to get it over with.

  “Come on, young lady,” she said with a smile.

  I looked back at everyone as I walked with her. They all smiled at me; I smiled back. I knew that we were all here to clear our names for Natalie, so I felt good in doing the right thing.

  Later on at Brad’s
house, we all sat in the recreation room and talked about our interrogations. Brad and I sat on the couch next to each other, but due to the fact that John was here, we weren’t cuddled up on each other.

  “So, was everyone asked where were they during Natalie’s murder?” Brad asked.

  Everyone said yes.

  “What about giving your DNA?” Brad asked with a grin.

  Everyone said yes again with a grin.

  “Well, the detectives who interviewed me praised me for having a DNA Day at school. They said that the case is gonna be easier to solve because of it, because it was obvious that a student or staff member at our school killed her,” Brad said.

  “Did they ask you about her phone?” Marc asked.

  “Yeah, they did. Since I’m the only student who saw her body, I told them that it was missing. They told me that was very important information and that they won’t let the media know about it just in case it turns up somewhere,” Brad said. “For a minute, they looked at me as if I’m the one who had it or knew who had it.”

  “Well, whoever has it is the one that killed her,” Ava said.

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “And that is one distinctive-looking phone; it stands out miles away. Whoever has it is obviously keeping it as some souvenir — fuckin’ sick-ass bastard!” I said as I shook my head.

  “You got that right!” Ken said.

  “Marc, we all know that you were Natalie’s boyfriend, and there’s a strong emphasis on were since the two of you were broken up way before her murder. But did you hear anything about the possibility of her fooling around with a guy at our school?” I asked.

  Everyone looked at Marc.

  “No, not at all. I only heard about the guy from Westmore. If she was fooling around with a guy at our school I would’ve known about it. I just don’t think that would’ve been a secret that would’ve been kept at all, at least not for a long time since I always have my ways of finding out about things,” Marc replied.

  “So, what did the detectives ask you since you’re her ex?” Ava asked him.

  “They just asked me had I gotten into any fights with her lately, how long were we together before we broke up, was I the jealous type — shit like that,” Marc replied.

  “Well, you know that they were questioning you like that strictly because she was your ex, man,” Ken said.

  “Oh, I know they were. I told them that I don’t have any secrets about Natalie. I told them that we’ve been broken up for almost a year and I’d moved on even though she wanted to get back together with me, so why would I wanna kill her? And in some room on the basement floor at school at that, you know?” Marc said.

  We all nodded in agreement.

  “Well, like I said before, because of the location of Natalie’s body, it was obvious that she was murdered by someone she quite possibly could’ve been seeing that she didn’t want anyone to know about. It just doesn’t seem right that she was murdered for no reason at all,” Brad said.

  “But why wouldn’t Marie tell us if there was someone that she was seeing that went to our school? I just don’t believe that she could not have been seeing at least someone. Or, you know, it could’ve been a male staff member who was stalking her — there are just so many possibilities,” Ava said.

  “Yeah, too many,” I replied.

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “But whoever killed her and regardless of the reason behind it, nothing was worth her being killed over,” Ava said.

  We all praised Ava for that statement.

  “So many fuckin’ secrets! Damn!” Ken said as he shook his head.

  “You can say that again!” Brad said. “Well, Natalie will get the justice that she deserves, and we’re all gonna see to that.”

  We all once again nodded in agreement, and I, like everyone else, couldn’t wait to see what those DNA results were gonna say.

  CHAPTER 29

  On Friday evening, Brad and Marc sat over Marc’s house in the family room hours after Natalie’s funeral as they drank alcohol straight out of full separate bottles as porn movies played on TV and hardcore rap songs blasted through the hi-definition, surround-sound speakers.

  “Fuckin’ shit, man! I still can’t believe this shit happened! Natalie fuckin’ murdered!” Brad said, and then took another swig out of his bottle.

  “This is fucked up, man. I mean, she was my ex, so you know this shit has had me very fucked up inside. But I think it could’ve been a janitor or something — you know the way those dudes be looking at all the girls at school — it very well could’ve been one of them, especially because of where she was found,” Marc replied, and then took a swig out of his bottle.

  Brad nodded. “It’s possible, but I don’t know. Like I told you all that one day, the whole room had stuff scattered everywhere; anyone could tell that there was a big fight. She seemed like she really fought hard for her life, man. She just looked so fuckin’ cold laying on that ground like that. Since I saw her body myself, it just freaked me the fuck out — I’ll never get it out of my head — and drinking this fuckin’ alcohol isn’t helping at all like the way I thought it would to at least get it out of my head for a few hours, you know?”

  “Nothing’s gonna help. That’s just really fucked up that this shit had to happen. But I don’t wanna talk about it anymore if that’s okay with you.”

  “Fine with me, man,” Brad said, and then reached into his pocket, got out his wallet, and looked in it. “Do you have any condoms, man? I need to blow off some of this stress so I’m going over to Vanessa’s after I leave here.”

  Marc grinned. “Sure, man. Upstairs in my room in my drawer — but watch your step in there,” he said with a chuckle.

  Brad grinned. “I will,” he said, and then got up as he slightly stumbled. He slowly made his way up to Marc’s room as the alcohol was getting to him. He walked into it. “Damn, this is the messiest fuckin’ room I’ve ever seen!” He went over to Marc’s desk and opened up the drawer on the left side of his desk and searched through it; he stopped dead in his tracks — he made a horrible discovery. “Holy fuckin’ shit!” he said in a stunned whisper, and then looked up to see if Marc had followed him upstairs; he hadn’t. He looked down again at what he was reacting to, and he began to shake and breathe heavy as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing . . . .

  Hidden in the drawer full of junk was no other than Natalie’s phone!

  The phone encrusted in multicolored, embellished crystals with tiny flowers on it sparkled in the dark drawer full of junk, and the initials NDA — NATALIE DENISE ARMSTRONG — made it no mistake that this was in fact her phone! He knew that it was missing from the crime scene where her body was found so he knew that her killer took it. He shook even more as he tried hard to come to grips with the fact that Marc was her killer. “I don’t fuckin’ believe this shit!” he said as quietly as he could. He held up his phone, pressed the camera button on it, and took a picture of Natalie’s phone as it laid in the drawer. He slowly shut the drawer as he forgot all about the condoms that he was supposed to get, and walked out of the room completely stunned of his horrible discovery.

  Once he got back downstairs, he didn’t sit back down on the couch as he stared at Marc while Marc continued to sit on the couch as he downed the last of the alcohol out of the bottle that he was drinking out of.

  “Hey, man. What’s up? Why do you keep looking at me like that?” Marc asked.

  Brad continued to stare at him.

  “What the fuck, man?! What’s wrong?”

  “I gotta go, man. I’ll talk to you later. I’ll let myself out.”

  “Cool, man,” Marc said as he continued to sit on the couch.

  Brad opened the front door and ran out to his car, got in it, and sped off down the driveway.

  I opened the door to Brad staring back at me, and I noticed right away that he didn’t look normal. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  He looked behind him and then walked in
and shut the door and locked it. He looked out of the peephole.

  “Brad, what the fuck, honey? What’s going on?”

  He grabbed my hand and took me into the family room and sat me down. He held on to both of my hands; his hands were very clammy. “Baby, I’ve been drinking, so before I tell you this, please know that I am not kidding when I say this; I even have proof of it.”

  I instantly got a sick feeling. I knew he was drinking because I could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Oh, my God, Brad! What the fuck . . .”

  “Marc killed Natalie.”

  I instantly jumped up! “WHAT?! OH, MY GOD! HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HAD TO DRINK, BRAD?! HOW DO YOU KNOW?! YOU SAID YOU HAVE PROOF?!”

  His whole body shook as he got out his phone. He sat me back down. “Here’s the proof, baby.”

  I looked at it. I felt like I had to throw up. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was unmistakably Natalie’s phone in Marc’s drawer!

  “Vanessa, what should we do? He’s my best friend. Maybe I can just talk to him about it.”

  “I don’t know, Brad. We don’t know what he’s capable of. What the hell would he be doing with her phone if he didn’t kill her?”

  “Exactly! Because I know he sure as hell isn’t holding it for the person who did kill her!”

  “Brad, I’m not gonna lie, I’m scared,” I said as I started to cry.

  He embraced me. “Shhh, baby. Calm down, okay? Marc doesn’t know that we know that he’s the one who killed her. He doesn’t even know that I took this picture.”

  “What were you doing up in his room? I mean, why were you looking through his drawer?”

  “I was looking for some condoms and he told me he had some in his desk drawers, so I went up to his room to look for some in his drawers — and the one that I opened had her phone in it. It was under so much stuff as if he was trying to hide it, you know? There was so much fuckin’ junk in that drawer that he did a good job of hiding it. I feel that I only found it because I was so persistent in trying to find some condoms so I kept digging through it. Vanessa, I swear I felt like I was gonna faint when I saw her phone laying in there. I almost threw up in his drawer after seeing it!”